Asked by
The Lord
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to
address youth violence.
(Con)
My Lords, with the leave of the House, before I respond to the
right reverend Prelate I am sure that the Chamber will join me in
feeling profound regret at the recent tragic events and note that
our thoughts are with the families of those who have been
affected on our streets. The Government are taking steps to
address all aspects of youth violence, from prevention to
enforcement. Diverting young people away from crime is at the
heart of our approach, which is why we are investing more than
£220 million in early intervention schemes to steer children and
young people away from serious violence.
The Lord
My Lords, last weekend at least four people were killed through
serious violence on the streets of the capital, and on Tuesday a
young person in Luton, in my own diocese, was stabbed more than
20 times. Among all those who are trying to work on this problem,
the churches have been involved, and indeed one church has
produced a public statue of a phoenix made from 500 knives that
had been reclaimed through a knife amnesty—a question of turning
swords into ploughshares. Can the Minister tell us whether Her
Majesty’s Government have made an assessment of the effectiveness
of weapons amnesties in reducing the number of weapons on the
streets, and whether more such initiatives are being planned?
The right reverend Prelate paints a powerful image of the phoenix
made from knives. On amnesty initiatives, individual police
forces can use amnesties and surrender bins whenever they want;
those are operational decisions that can be taken at a local
level. Such initiatives are a key component of Operation Sceptre,
and the most recent week of co-ordinated national action took
place in March, during which time more than 10,000 knives were
surrendered, including in surrender bins. We are expecting
another week of action in the autumn. However, we cannot look at
any of these initiatives in isolation; it is a combination that
will make the difference.
(Lab)
My Lords, I share the Minister’s words on the recent tragic
events. In 2010, there were 3,600 Sure Start centres offering
childcare and play sessions, parenting advice and employment
coaching. Up to 1,000 centres have closed since then, with a cut
of some 62% in council early years service spending since 2010,
and the trend is continuing. Over just the four years to 2017-18,
the number of children using Sure Start in the 30 most deprived
authorities was down by 22%, and by 12% in the 30 least deprived
councils. What is the Government’s analysis of the impact that
the austerity-driven reduction over nearly 10 years in the number
of Sure Start centres, and the level of service that they can
continue to provide, is already having and will continue to have
on the level of youth violence?
The Government response to the question put by the noble Lord is
again to say, as was set out in the report of the Children’s
Commissioner published in February this year, that many factors
influence youth violence. We do not help young people if we try
to pin it exclusively on one. The noble Lord makes a fair point
about changes in provision for early years, but significant
changes have also occurred in the drugs market which have had a
significant influence. The Government’s focus is to move away
from a purely criminal justice response towards a public health
response and a long-term commitment in this area.
(Con)
My Lords, the violence and the deaths of young people on our
streets are nothing short of a national emergency on a national
scale. Can my noble friend the Minister say exactly what the
Government are doing now to address this issue, particularly in
relation to police visibility on our streets, youth funding and
school exclusions?
Well, I have with me a copy of Hansard from Monday, when my
honourable friend the Minister in the other place gave a list of
what we are doing. I fear that time does permit me to read it,
but it runs to more than half a column. So this really is an area
where the Government are doing a great deal.
In response to my noble friend’s specific questions, police
funding is increasing by over £1 billion this year, as your
Lordships are aware, and we are aware of plans to recruit of a
further 3,500 police officers and staff. With youth services, we
are particularly proud of the Youth Endowment Fund that the
Government have announced, which will be delivered over 10 years.
Those of us who have worked in the charity sector know how
valuable 10-year funding is. The figures on school exclusions are
not entirely clear about the impact of exclusions, but 21% of
young people convicted of possession of a knife were excluded
from school, 50% of them after the event.
(LD)
My Lords, I appreciate that the noble Baroness said that the
Government were doing a lot, but their so-called Serious Violence
Strategy is actually an underfunded collection of unconnected
existing initiatives and various piecemeal pots of money that
have been indiscriminately thrown at the problem over recent
years. When will the Government take youth violence seriously by
setting specific goals based on a coherent and comprehensive
strategy to address both the symptoms and causes of youth
violence?
I think the noble Lord is a little harsh. The Government
absolutely recognise that a huge culture change is required and
that for too long the police have been the service of last resort
in addressing youth violence. That will never get to the root of
the problem unless we are able to engage other
services—education, health and so forth. So just two days ago, as
the noble Lord may be aware, my right honourable friend the Home
Secretary announced funding for the initial establishment of 18
violence reduction units, which I hope will produce exactly the
results the noble Lord aspires to.
